Title: Internal Combustion

Summary: Sequel to What A Long, Strange Trip. After returning from Tahoe, Walter and Paige try to adjust to the new normal now that they are a couple.

Author's Note: I took a little hiatus from this story because, after a bit of soul-searching I decided to re-write this chapter and give Happy a better story. If you read chapter 9 before it would really be good to read it again, as I've changed things around quite a bit. Also – this story is now officially diverging from canon, since Season 3 has started.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own /scorpion. This story is for entertainment purposes only. I make no profit and no infringement of copyrights is intended.


Chapter 9

Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without.~James Dobson


"I guess it's a good thing this place is open twenty-four hours," she said, grinning slightly. "Look, Doc. I know I was wrong not to tell you. It happened a long time ago, and I was still pretty much just a kid. I haven't thought about it in years and… I've tried hard to forget about that part of my life. I thought about it when you made that offhand comment about marriage a few weeks ago, but I really didn't think you were serious. By the time I realized you were I… I panicked. I just couldn't figure out how to tell you. Plus there was really no time. It didn't really hit me until Collins called you my fiancé and said he had the ring. Then there was the whole business with you in that Tholian Web thing and we were never alone. It's not something I want to discuss with everyone else listening in, Doc."

"So why don't you tell me now. We're… well, we're not completely alone, but close enough."

Happy took a deep breath, then took a sip from her water. She knew she couldn't put it off any longer.

"So… you know I was raised in the foster system, right?"

Toby nodded.

"So, none of my foster families were great prizes. I've heard that there are some families that really take it seriously. The kinds of families that do it because they love kids. But I was never lucky enough to get one of those families. The ones I got stuck with were usually in it for the money they got from the state for each kid. Folks would take in six kids and basically indulge their own selves off that money."

"I've heard of that. The state tolerates it because there just aren't enough people willing to foster."

"Yeah. Most of those folks were at least tolerable. They wanted as little to do with me and the other kids as they could get away with, while still keeping the social workers satisfied. By the time I got to be fifteen I figured out what a scam the whole thing was – at least in my experience – so… I started looking for a way out. I was sick and tired of being bounced from family to family, but I didn't like the idea of just running away. I wanted to be able to stay in school – crazy as that was - and runaway foster kids can't do that. "

Once again the waitress appeared, placed two plates on the table. She started to walk away, then thought better of it. "Do you two need anything else?" she asked.

"No, no, we're good," said Happy.

Glancing from Happy to Toby, the waitress nodded. "Okay then. If… if you all need anything I'll be right over there behind the counter. Just wave and I'll be right over. In the meantime I'll leave you to… to enjoy your meal." Then she turned and walked swiftly to the other side of the restaurant, well out of earshot.

"Perceptive woman, that one," Toby commented.

"Yeah. Anyways, as I was saying, I wanted out of the system but I wanted to do it in a legal way. So I started researching what it would take to become an emancipated minor. My foster mother at the time was big into TV shows about legal stuff and there was an episode that talked about it. But the thing is, there's only three ways in California to become emancipated. One is to join the military and I really didn't want to do that. Another is to petition the court, but that costs money and you have to be employed and able to support yourself and you pretty much have to have the consent of your guardian. Since the state is your guardian, that's pretty much not gonna happen."

Happy pushed the greens around her plate, stabbed a piece of boiled egg and popped it into her mouth. Somehow, having started down this road, her nerves were gone and she found she actually was hungry. She looked longingly at Toby's burger and fries, and he immediately pushed his plate towards the center of the table, turning it so the fries were on her side. She reached over and snagged a couple.

"I'm not sure I follow, Happy. What does all this have to do with you being married?"

"I'm getting there, Mister Impatient."

Toby leaned back and put up his hands as if to ward off an attacker. "Sorry, sorry!"

"So, the couple I was with at the time had four kids; me, a boy who just turned seventeen, and two toddlers that we had to watch whenever we weren't in school so the couple could go do whatever it was they liked to do on the state's money. Me and Seth had been there for a little over a year, and we got along pretty well."

She speared some turkey and ham and chewed on it for a moment before grabbing another French fry. She could tell the doc was getting more impatient. He was fidgeting and twisting around in his seat like he had to use the restroom or something. Which, considering how much soda he'd been drinking, could well be the case. Well, he had a voice, if he needed to pee he could say so.

Happy took a deep breath, and drank the last of her water. She wanted to call the waitress for more, but she was anxious to finish her story, so she pressed on.

"In Mississippi the age of consent for females is fifteen. Seth knew what I was trying to do, so he suggested we take off for Mississippi and get married. He was very clear that it would be a marriage in name only, and we were only doing it to get out of the system."

Toby looked blankly at her.

"He was saying there would be no hanky-panky, Doc. And I gotta give him that. He was a man – or rather a boy – of his word in that department. He never touched me except for one kiss during the ceremony at the courthouse. He said we needed it to look authentic."

Toby sat up a moment. "So was this guy gay? Or were you one of those gawky teenagers who grows up to be beautiful?"

Happy frowned. "Neither. Seth was a lazy asshole. And maybe he believed me when I told him I'd deck him if he laid a finger on me. But really the only thing Seth wanted out of the arrangement was a way out of the system, a roof and a meal ticket. "

"I don't follow," came the response. Toby dragged his plate back over and picked up his burger. Happy was about to protest the loss of the fries, but then thought the least she could do was let the guy eat. It would keep him from interrupting every other sentence.

"We hitchhiked – and occasionally borrowed transportation – all the way to Mississippi. Stopped in some little town that was the county seat of some little county and we got married. With our license in hand, we came back to California, petitioned the state for emancipation and we were free. Except he was more free than me. We were both supposed to get jobs and go back to school. I managed to get a pretty decent job helping out in an auto shop in the afternoons and on weekends. Seth figured I made enough money to pay the rent and feed us both, so he spent his days skipping school, hanging around the apartment watching television and eating pizza and once in a while he'd hang out with a gang of dropouts who found ways of obtaining money that weren't strictly legal."

Happy took another bite of her salad, then pushed the dish away and waved to the waitress. She was there in a moment and Happy asked her to bring another plate of fries. Once the woman left, she finished her story.

"You may have realized I don't particularly like being taken advantage of."

Toby nodded, chewing slowly.

"So, I left him. One Friday night while he was out with his buddies I packed up all my stuff and left. I didn't think it was safe to stay in L.A., so I took a little bit of money I'd been saving and bought an old car and just started traveling around the state, stopping someplace for a few weeks or months whenever I could get a job. I worked mostly in auto shops, so I was able to keep the car running well enough to get me to whatever the next town was. I had my schoolbooks with me and it wasn't long before I figured out I could teach myself way better than I learned things in school. So I bought more books – a few a stole when I didn't have money – and before long I was driving around in a mini library. In a weird way, I guess I sorta owe Seth. If he wasn't such a bum I probably would have stayed in high school and I wouldn't have learned half the stuff I know now. Not just from the books, but I got a hell of a lot of practical knowledge from all the work I did. Sometimes I got jobs with electricians and plumbers and pretty much any outfit that was remotely mechanical."

The fresh fries arrived and Happy grabbed a few, but quickly put them back down when they burned her fingers.

"Here, let me look at that," Toby said, taking her hand and turning it over to examine the fingertips. Happy continued talking while Toby took a napkin, soaked it with her ice water and gently pressed the chilled cloth to the minor burns.

"By the time I was eighteen, I got tired of playing nomad and decided to come back to L.A. I kept a low profile since I was still worried that Seth might find me, although by that time I realized he was probably too lazy to even try. I went by our old apartment once and it was pretty obvious he wasn't living there, so I checked out a few of his hangouts and there was no sign of him. I thought about getting a divorce, but that would cost money I didn't have, and I would have to make an effort to contact him. I really didn't want to do that because I figured he might try to sue for support or something. I didn't have much at the time, but what I had I worked hard for and I really didn't want to lose anything. I'm still, frankly, a little worried about putting that into motion, especially now that we're actually making some money. Technically, everything I have I acquired during the marriage. He could claim abandonment or something and pretty much take half of everything I've got… plus put a claim on anything I earn in the future."

Happy pulled her hand back, feeling a little awkward at the contact while she told her boyfriend about her husband. "For all I know, he may be dead and I may be a free woman. But I don't know, and I'm not legally divorced, so… that's why I can't marry you."


Toby leaned back in the booth. His meal was forgotten; his appetite had flown. For one of the first times in his life, he was having a serious problem controlling his anger. He wasn't angry with Happy.

"Wow," was all he could think of to say. Real brilliant, Curtis!

"Yeah. I never really thought about how crazy this story must sound."

"No, no," he quickly responded. "I mean… yes… it sounds sort of crazy. But crazy stuff like that happens all the time – especially to people like us. You know, there's an asshole born every day."

"I think the quote is 'There's a sucker born every day.' In this case, I'm the sucker."

"God, no, Happy! You shouldn't think of it that way. I mean sure, a real jerk took advantage of you, but like I said, it happens all the time to us. And you were still just a kid. And look at what you made out of that experience. You're brilliant, Happy. And you're self-sufficient. And you don't take crap from anyone. I know now where you get two out of three of those qualities. But it's no thanks to Seth. It's all because you decided you weren't going to take it lying down." Toby paused, then grinned. "Sorry, poor choice of words, even if Seth didn't…"

"Yeah, well he didn't. It was a long time ago, Doc. I mostly don't even think about it anymore but… now, I sort of have to …"

Happy was silent for a while, her words hanging between them. Toby assumed that whatever she was about to say, she'd decided against it. She signaled to the waitress, holding up her water glass which was quickly replaced with a full one. After taking several healthy swallows, she reached a hand across the table. Toby thought she might want to take his hand, but then she pulled the hand back and got some French fries. She didn't eat them, just toyed with them, tearing off tiny pieces and sprinkling them on top of her salad. .

"Doc… back in the garage… when the confetti was exploding and you were doing the singing… you do know I wanted to say Yes?"


July 31, 2016 – October 16, 2016